Let’s talk briefly about Watcher (2022), a psychological thriller by written and directed by Chloe Okuno in her feature-length directorial debut.

The story is about a young American couple that move to Bucharest for Romanian-American husband Francis’ career (Francis played by Karl Glusman). Wife Julia (played by Maika Monroe), who doesn’t yet speak the language, tries to adapt to the new apartment and foreign surroundings alone—Francis often has to work late—when she gets the sense that a mysterious neighbor from across the street is stalking her.

It’s a well-made, smart, subdued film. The performances are extremely subtle but valid; Monroe’s performance waivers like the needle on some delicate scientific instrument from mildly amused to quietly bored to paranoid. The film itself is extremely stylish with an equally subtle cinematography (by Benjamin Nielsen) and befittingly moody color scheme. I wanted to like this movie but the screenplay, minimalist as it is, is purposely flabby, drawn out for a self-serving motive like a weak joke with an annoyingly long set-up. The problem is it pushes you along instead of pulling.

I understand the film has an underlying message. I got that. I might have loved it; again, it’s styley enough. There’s a reason why that air of doubt is maintained in Okuno’s film. Okuno splendidly achieved the paranoia she sought to express but couldn’t sustain the interest…which may have been the whole point of this film.